The answer to all our problems? Gardening, say Tory MPs

In case you think that all our MPs are interested in is Brexit, well, it’s not true. Some of them have MUCH more important things to do:

“Encouraging gardening needs to be put at the heart of Government policy making, Tory MPs have said in a report backed by Theresa May.

A 56-page report from the Conservative Environment Network said that “getting more people gardening” has to be part of a “truly holistic, cross departmental, high impact policy”.

The report, which has been sent to Cabinet ministers, said encouraging gardening should be adopted as a policy by a range of government departments including health, justice, defence, local government and education.

Gardening could help to cut childhood obesity, improve public spaces, help people deal with mental stress and provide purpose for prisoners in jails.

Tory MP Rebecca Pow – a former BBC, ITV and C4 reporter who specialised in the environment, farming and gardening – wrote in the report: “Gardens, gardening, and horticultural skills can have a striking effect on our communities.

“Getting more people gardening is a truly holistic, cross departmental, high impact policy.” …

… “To get the full benefits that the power of plants can provide our communities with, especially in urban areas, requires an interlinked approach and now is the time to sow those seeds and spread those roots for the greater good.” …

The Prime Minister said the report “raised the health benefits of green space, which are becoming ever more recognised”.

She pledged that Defra “will consider the evidence within that report and will focus on what can be done to ensure that the benefits provided by access to green space are available to all segments of society”.”